RANGERS ANNOUNCE 2015 MAJOR LEAGUE COACHING STAFF
Maddux, Magadan, Hawkins, and Jones return, three others promoted from player development;
Third base coach still to be determined; Adcock, Figaro, and Lucas all outrighted off 40-man roster
Arlington, Texas – The Texas Rangers today announced the club’s 2015 major league coaching staff, with the exception of third base coach, a position that will be finalized at a later date.
Pitching coach Mike Maddux, hitting coach Dave Magadan, bullpen coach Andy Hawkins, and assistant hitting coach Bobby Jones will all return to the staff. New additions are bench coach Steve Buechele, first base coach/catching instructor Hector Ortiz, and major league field coordinator Jayce Tingler.
Maddux and Hawkins return for a seventh season in their respective roles, the longest-tenured members of the staff. Magadan returns for his third season as hitting coach while Jones will be in his position for a second straight year.
Buechele, 53, will be a major league coach for the first time. He has spent the past six seasons as a manager in the Rangers farm system, serving at High-A Bakersfield (2009), Double-A Frisco (2010-13), and Triple-A Round Rock (2014). As a minor league manager, Buechele guided his clubs to postseason berths in four of his six seasons. Originally selected by Texas in the fifth round of the 1982 June draft out of Stanford University, the former third baseman played 1334 games over 11 seasons in the majors with Texas (1985-91, 1995), Pittsburgh (1991-92), and Chicago-NL (1992-95). Buechele still ranks second in Rangers history with 835 games at third base, trailing only Buddy Bell (901).
Ortiz, 45, will be in his first major league coaching position, although he has spent extended stints with the big league club as a catching instructor the past few years. Next year will be his 10th season in the Texas organization, having served as hitting coach at Rookie-level Spokane (2006-08), manager (2009) and hitting coach (2010) at Low-A Hickory, manager for the Arizona League Rangers (2011), and as the farm system’s catching coordinator (2011-14). He also managed Ponce in the Puerto Rican Winter League after the 2012 season. Ortiz played 93 games over four major league seasons with Kansas City (1998, 2000-01) and Texas (2002).
Tingler, who turns 34 next month, will be in his first major league position. He has spent eight seasons with Texas, including the past three (2012-14) as field coordinator for the minor league system. Tingler also served as the club’s coordinator of instruction for both Arizona and Dominican Republic operations in 2011 after three campaigns as a manager for club’s Dominican Summer League squad (2008-09) and Arizona League team (2010). In each of his three seasons as a manager, each club finished in first place. He began his coaching career in the Dominican as a hitting coach in 2007 after a four-season minor league career in the Toronto (2003-05) and Texas (2006) organizations.
TEXAS RANGERS 2015 MAJOR LEAGUE COACHING STAFF
Manager – Jeff Banister
Bench coach – Steve Buechele
Pitching coach – Mike Maddux
Hitting coach – Dave Magadan
First base coach – Hector Ortiz
Third base coach – TBD
Bullpen coach – Andy Hawkins
Field coordinator – Jayce Tingler
Asst. hitting coach – Bobby Jones
TRANSACTIONS/ROSTER UPDATE: Right-handed pitchers Nate Adcock and Alfredo Figaro, along with infielder Ed Lucas, have all cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Round Rock. Adcock has turned down the assignment to become a free agent.
With free agents Scott Baker, Neal Cotts, and Colby Lewis all coming off the major league roster Thursday, plus the Rangers declining the 2015 club option on Alex Rios to make him a free agent, there are now 31 players on the team’s 40-man roster.
– RANGERS –
